


never knowing where my monsters lay

by CassandrasDreamworld



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alive Pavetta, Alive Renfri, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Ambiguous Universe, Burning to Death (Not Described), Ciri is there but she's still a fetus so she doesn't get a character tag, Dragon Renfri, F/F, Light Angst, Meet-Cute, Pavetta is 19 btw, There is a short scene with extremely mild body horror, Transformation, non-explicit death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:27:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28814895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassandrasDreamworld/pseuds/CassandrasDreamworld
Summary: “Just some few months ago, Pavetta would not have thought it possible to end up in the situation she is now, running through the woods, holding her belly, and desperately hoping to shake off her pursuers..."Often it's mankind that are the monsters.
Relationships: Pavetta (The Witcher)/Renfri (The Witcher)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 28
Collections: The Witcher Quick Fic #04





	never knowing where my monsters lay

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

Just some few months ago, Pavetta would not have thought it possible to end up in the situation she now is.

Being, running through the woods, holding her belly, and desperately hoping to shake off her pursuers.

The men, the hunters, have been on her trail for days now, and she’s tired and hungry. Cold too, as she did not get a chance to slip into any kind of appropriate clothing, and is in nothing more than the now filthy gown she wore to her nineteenth birthday ball. Everything went wrong so quickly, a part of her still cannot believe that it really happened. 

Still cannot believe she is now fleeing, fearing for her life, while not a week ago she was safe inside a palace.

She tries desperately not to think about what will happen after she shakes them off her trail. 

Pavetta was born into the lap of luxury, into one of the most influential families on The Continent. Her education is well rounded, one of the best that money has been able to buy, but it did not include anything that would aid in her survival. 

She doesn’t know how to hunt, or even really how to cook. She can barely tell apart edible plants, and only then because she’s had a fascination with botany for several years after reading a frankly delightful book.

It has only helped so far now that she managed to eat some berries while on the run, to at least quell her hunger for a bit. She just hopes that this won’t hurt her baby, she could not live with herself if something happened to it.

The sun tells her that it is around midday, and she hasn’t heard anything from her pursuers for a while. No shouting, no rustling of the undergrowth, and none of the dogs she heard previously barking either. 

Which means that she has either succeeded in losing them, or it means they have gotten smarter about hunting her. Considering all that has transpired, she strongly believes it to be the second option. She fiercely tries to blink away the tears gathering in her eye, she does not have the time to weep now.

Her stomach rumbles in hunger, but she is too scared to try and search for food. She has to hope that she comes across something, preferably sooner rather than later. She doesn’t know where she is, or which direction she is walking, and her feet are sore and hurting, the footwear not ideal for a stroll in the woods.

It takes her more hours of walking, body aching, til she finds a stream that flows from the mountain. She is so thirsty and grateful for the succor she does not think about how dirty the water could be, and near throws herself to the riverbank, greedily drinking from it and wetting her face.

Just as she is about to stand up again she hears it, the cracking of a branch, and when she whirls around she swears she sees a figure darting between the trees. Without a second thought she grits her teeth and gathers up her skirts, mentally mapping out a way through the river where the water does not look too deep. 

She flees into the chilled stream, nearly stumbling in her haste to get to the other side. It appears that she was right, they wanted to lull her into a false sense of security, but now that one of them was too bold and made her see them, it seems that they don’t intend to keep hidden anymore.

On the other side she dares a quick look back, and sees at least three men behind her. It's fewer than before, which means either there are either more still behind or they split up to find her. She prays for it to be the latter, she will have a chance escaping a handful of them but not more than a dozen. 

She runs as fast as she is able through bush and tree, hearing her pursuers right behind her but never turning to look. Her foot connects with more stable ground, and only vaguely she realizes that she is now running on an old and overgrown path.

The men are yelling and growing closer, but she doesn’t know how close, she cannot estimate it and forces herself to keep going. Foot before foot, eyes on the path, any stumble now could mean her end. 

It seems to her that the path leads her up the mountain, every step getting more difficult as the way becomes steeper. Before her she sees the top of what has to be a way sign, and upon getting closer she can tell that it’s old and moldy, grown over with vines. It seems to indicate two directions, and she’s close enough now to see them too.

One appears to lead further up the mountain, and the other one around it. She does not know what to do and does not have time to consider her options. Maybe the sign will help her, although she doubts it she cannot dismiss any help now.

She doesn’t have the time to stop but she has to if for only a few seconds. The sign is even older than she first assumed, written with one of the very old spellings. The path around the mountain leads to a small village- or would have if the village hadn’t burned down around a hundred years ago.

Which makes the mountain she is unintentionally scaling the ard’uabhasan. 

She is well read, and it’s only because of this that she knows about anything about her path. Before she even consciously registered both directions she had already chosen the way up the mountain.

Long ago there were monsters and magic, populating the world and living among them all. Some areas were more prone to a concentration of monsters, these mountains allegedly one of those spots.

_ Before _ , she would not have believed any of it, just dismissed it as legends and folklore but in light of current events- what she has  _ done _ \- she thinks there might have been truth to all of it.

She would rather die to a monster than be captured by those men.

The air is getting thin and her stamina less and less, her legs are burning and she’s gradually getting slower. Only her fear and determination to keep her child safe are moving her now.

Around her the landscape transforms from forest to a more rocky terrain littered with sparse trees, to red rock. It’s getting colder the higher up she gets, and it does not help that her shoes and stockings are still wet from fleeing through the river.

It seems that her only luck is that as she is getting more tired, so are her pursuers.

She forces herself to run still, past her pain and her lungs that scream from the effort. So concentrated on keeping going she misses that she is running straight to the edge of a cliff. In the last moment she sees it and manages to throw herself back before falling into the abyss.

The sharp rock digs into her palm and she hears the men behind her. Struggling she tries to get up but her limbs are shaking, failing her.

She has to get up.  _ She has to _ .

Her body won’t let her though, shutting down as she struggles and she is not going to cry. She won’t give them the satisfaction. 

She’ll fight until her last breath.

Suddenly, a massive shape comes shooting out from the canyon and flies over her, landing with a force so great the earth rumbles and cracks.

Pavetta can hardly believe what she sees, would think it an halluzination if it weren’t for the screams of the men. 

Before her is none other than a  _ dragon _ . It’s big, taller than the tallest trees of the forest and its wings seem endless as they spread out. Its scales gleam scarlet red in the sun, and it lets out a roar so loud and  _ angry _ that it bows the trees before it.

Then it lets out a huff, smoke curling around its mouth, before it opens its gaping maw and lets loose a firestorm so hot it seems to melt even the rocky ground. 

Where the men once stood is now only a mass of charred black.

She did not want the men to die, far from it, and it’s the first time she has seen death. It should move her but doesn’t. It might be her shock, maybe she will have a breakdown after everything is over if she even lives that long.

Slowly the dragon turns around, tail passing harmlessly over her while it regards her with what seems to be a curious expression.

It steps forward and, either out of curiosity or fear, Pavetta does not close her eyes and watches it instead. The dragon is truly beautiful.

Then, from one moment to the next it seems to shrink, folding in on himself. She watches on, captivated by the change, morbid fascination not making her look away as bones are cracking and popping and skin ripples around it’s form.

In the end before her stands an incredibly stunning woman in the nude. 

Despite the situation she finds her blood rushing to her face.

The woman regards her and hums before she comes closer and offers her a hand. “Not often someone finds their way onto my mountain anymore.” Her teeth are sharp when she grins. “Although I don’t think you had a choice, did you?”

Pavetta accepts her hand, although hesitantly, still beet red in her face. She shakes her head at the woman’s question. “I- I did not. Thank you for saving me, my lady.”

The woman lets out a short bark of laughter. “My lady? I’m not a lady, girl. Call me Renfri.”

“Renfri then, I am Pavetta.” She bows before Renfri. “You have my unending gratitude for not only saving me, but my child as well.”

Renfri waves her off, seemingly uncomfortable by Pavetta’s thanks and genuine gratitude. “No need for thanks.I saw that they were hunting you, and I don’t take kindly to men preying on girls.” There is a feral glint in Renfri’s eye that makes it seem there is more to that statement, but Pavetta won’t ask.

Instead she wraps her arms around herself, the cold now truly catching up with her, and asks, “If- if it is not presumptuous of me, might I request for a warm shelter for some time?” 

Pavetta won’t cry, not now, but the tears are threatening now that it seems the immediate danger has passed. “I swear that I will help with anything that you ask of me, but I fear that I do not have a home anymore.”

Renfri frowns at her, seemingly thinking hard before she sighs. “Fine. I will help you  _ but _ -”, she stresses, “You have to tell me what happened to you and who is after you. Otherwise I cannot guarantee your safety or  _ mine _ .”

Pavetta nods, throat clogged as she whispers, “ _ Thank you. _ ”

“Can you walk?” Renfri asks, and sighs again when Pavetta shakes her head. She turns her back to Pavetta and crouches and motions her forward. “Come on then, my lair is not far from here.”   
  
This just makes her go redder in the face, her voice high when she says, “On your back?”

Renfri rolls her eyes, “Yes on my back, humans and your delicate sensibilities.”

“Oh- okay.” She mutters and slowly walks forwards.

Pavetta lays her arms around Renfri’s neck, while Renfri leans even more forward. Renfri grabs her legs, and with a heave she’s on Renfri’s back. The whole thing happens so fast that she squeaks in surprise, making Renfri chuckle.

“Let me guess, never ridden a dragon before, hm?” Renfri says grinning, which makes Pavetta let out another soft noise and makes her hide her burning face inside the crook of Renfri’s neck.

Renfri just laughs.


End file.
